Fire-escape.



A No. 666,622.' Patented oct. 3o, |900.

J. DERUS.

' FIRE ESCAPE.

(Application med June v, 1900.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

m: Noam: Farms co, Puma-umn.. wAsHmaTcN. n, c.

No. 660,022. Patented oct. 30, |900.

- .1. Darius.

FIRE ESCAPE.

(Application led June 7, 1900.)

No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

UNiTED STATESY PATENT OFFICE.

AJOI-IN DERUS, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD TOJOI-IN GIERIET, OF SAME PLACE.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 660,622. dated October30, 1900.

Application filed June 7,1900. .Serial No. 19,374. (No model.)

of the United States, residing at Minneapolis,

in the county of Hennepin and State of Minnesota, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Fire-Escapes; and Ido hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it ap- Iopertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to fire-escapes, and has for its object to improvethe samein the several particulars hereinafter noted.

To such end the invention consists of the novel devices and combinationsof devices hereinafter described, and defined in the claims.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein likecharacters zo indicate like parts throughout the several vlews.

Figure 1 is a viewin front elevation, showing a building equipped withone of my improved fire-escape devices, some parts being broken away andothers sectioned. Fig. 2 is a view partly in side elevation and partlyin vertical section, some parts being` broken away, showing the partsillustrated in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail in horizontal section ap- 3oproximately on the line :r3 .n3 of Fig. 1, some parts being broken away.Fig. 4 is a detail view in side elevation with some parts broken away,showing a portion of one of the vertical tracks and one of thevertically-movable rail-trucks. Fig. is a detail on an enlarged scale invertical section approximatelyon the line m5 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 6 is adetail view showing a pawl-ax1d-1atcl1et device for holding thewindlass-operating shaft.

4o The numeral 1 indicates in outline a building having doors, windows,and the ordinary arrangement. In the illustration given a smallthree-story building is shown; but it will of course be understood thatthis tire-escape is applicable to a building oi' any sort and is, infact, especially intended for high olice buildings.

In accordance with myinvention I provide the building with suitablevertical tracks or 5o guides and for cooperation therewith pro- Vide ahorizontal rail which is adjustable vertically bysuitable mechanismcontrolled from the bottom of the building or from the sidewalk. Acar orcage is mounted to run upon or to be suspended from below a horizontalrail, and this car is preferablydetachably secured to small trucks ordevices movable over said horizontal rail, so that the car mayordinarily be detached and may, if desired, be carried by the apparatusof the fire depart` fm ment.

The vertical tracks or guide 2 are preferably in the form ofchannel-bars having inturned flanges 3. For vertical movement over thesetracks 2 small trucks made up of 6 1; blocks or bodies 4 and wheels 5,mounted thereon, are provided. The truck-wheels 5 run over the outersurface of the Atlanges 3, While retaining lugs or projections 6 fromthe blocks or bodies 4 engage the innersides 7o of said flanges 3 andprevent the said trucks from jumping from the said tracks. To the block4 of each truck is secured one end of a wire rope 7, which is passedover a guidesheave S, mounted at the upper end of the cooperatingchannel or track 2, and is then passed downward between the iianges ofsaid track and thence over a lower guide-sheave 9, suitably mounted inthe bracket 10 beneath the sidewalk 11. The lower ends of the ropes 8o 7are secu red to and wound on windlass-drums 12, both of which drums arerigid on the common windlass-shaft 13, mounted in bearings 14, securedbelow the sidewalk 11. `At one end the windlassshaft 13 is provided witha 85 beveled pinion 15, which meshes with the cooperating beveled pinion1o', carried at the lower end of a vertically-disposed operatingshaft17. The shaft i7, as shown, passes upward through the sidewalk 11 and issuitably 9o lnounted in a bearing-bracket 18. At its upper end the shaft17 is provided with a hand crankor lever 19, which is preferablyremovable and by means of which it maybe turned.

To hold the windlass drums and shaftagainst unwinding movements, theoperating-shaft 17 is provided with a ratchetwheel 20, with which afoot-released retaining-pawl 21, pivoted to a plate 22, cooperates.

By the connections described the trucks 4 loo 5 are given equal verticalmovements, and these vertical movements thereof serve to raise and lowera horizontally-exten'ded rail 23, the ends of which are secured tobrackets 24, projected from the truck-blocks 4.

The car or basket 25 is suspended from trucks mounted to move over therail 23. As shown, two small trucks, formed each by a bracket 26 and apair of flanged wheels 27, are employed for this purpose. The flangedwheels 27 of each truck engage one the u pper and the other the loweredge of the rail 23, and thus prevent the trucks from jumping olf fromthe rail. The car or basket 25 is supported from the truck-brackets 26by chains 28 and 28 or other suitable connection. The chains 28 on thecage are provided with hooks 29, which engage rings or links 30 of thesaid chains 28 on the bracket 26, so

that the said basket or car may be readily detached. f

A wire rope or other eXible connection which will not burn connects eachend of the basket-or car 25 to one of the verticallymovable trucks'4 5.These ropes or cables 31 are long enough to permit the car to be movedfrom one end to the other of the horizontal rail 23, and preferably theyare permanently attached to the car or basket 25 and are provided attheir outer ends with snap-hooks 32, by means of which they aredetachably secured to the block portions 4 or the bracket' extensions 24thereof of the said trucks. As shown, the hooks 32 engage with eyes 33,secured to the bracket portions 24.

At its inner side the car-body or basket 25 is provided with a hingedside section 34, of such Width and such length that when throwndownward, as best shown in Fig. 5, it may be projected into an openwindow, and thus constitute a platform over which a person may walk fromthe said window to the said basket. Preferably one or more guy-ropes 35connect the hinged side or section 34 with the side of the basket 25.Also the said side or platform 34 is preferably provided with a fingeror projection 36, having a down-turned end, which isadapted to engageinside of the Window-sill to prevent the car from swinging outward whilesaid platform is turned down. Turn-buttons 37 on the platform -section34 are engageable with the inner side of the car or basket 25 to lockthe said section 34 in its upward position, as shown in Fig. 1.

The use of the tire-escape is probably ob- Vious from the foregoingdescription and statements made, but may be briefly summarized asfollows: Ordinarily the car or basket 25 is detached and may, as alreadystated, be carried with certain of the apparatus used by the firedepartment; but it may, however, beotherwise disposed of Whereconvenient access thereto may be had. Also the horizontal rail 23 willordinarily be adjusted to its highest point, where it will be nearly orquite hidden by the cornice of the building. Hence when the lire-escapeis out of use it does not disfigure the building. In case of a fire therail 23 is ylowered Within reach from the ground, and the basket or caris attached, as already indicated and as shown in the drawings. By meansof the crank 19 and Windlass connections described the rail 23 is thenraised until the basket isv brought to the ele'- vation of a windowfromwhich some person or persons are attempting to escape. Usually a firemanor some other person will enter the car or basket before it is raised,and such per son may of course readily control the horizontal movementsof said basket by pulling on one or the other of the ropes or cables 3l.In this way while the basket is being raised or lowered it may be movedover the rail 23, so as to reach any desired window or to escape theflames which may be issuing from anyparticular window. This action isimportant.

It will of course be understood that the construction above described iscapable of considerable modification within the scope of my invention.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates, is as follows:

l. The combination with a building having windows or openings at thedifferent stories, of a fire-escape comprising a horizontal rail, a pairof windlasses operated from a'common source andV provided with flexibleconnections suspending said rail from the upper portion of the buildingwith freedom for vertical movements always in a horizontal position,truckwheels movable on said horizontal rail, and a car or basketsuspended from said truckwheels, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a building having windows or openings at thedifferent stories,

of a fire-escape comprising a vertically-mov-n able horizontal rail, apair of windlasses and flexible connections suspending said rail fromthe upper portion of the building, which wind- ;lasses are operated by acommon device from ;near`the ground, a pair of trucks movable on saidrail, and a car or basket suspended from said trucks by a pair offlexible connections,

vsubstantially as described. f

3. Thel combination with the Vertical tracks or channels 2, of thetrucks 4, 5, movable over said tracks 2, a horizontal rail 23 secured tosaid trucks, the windlass-shaft 13 with winding-drums 12, the flexibleconnections 7 connectin g said drums to said vertically-movable trucks,the guide-sheaves over which said connections 7 run, the operating-shafti7 with crank 19, the bevel-pinions 15 and 16 connecting said shafts 13and 17, the trucks 26 27 movable on said horizontal rail 23, and the caror basket suspended from said trucks, substantially as 4described.

In testimony whereof I afx my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

JOHN DERUS.

Witnesses:

M. M. McGRoRY, F. D. MERCHANT.

ICO

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